Who is Tom Pelphrey, who just got engaged to Kaley Cuoco of The Big Bang Theory fame? The Ozark actor founded a theatre company and met the actress through their shared agent

Third time’s the charm for The Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco, who just got engaged to Ozark actor Tom Pelphrey. She had previously sworn off marriage after her first two ended in divorce, according to her 2022 interview with Glamour magazine, but the 38-year-old was all smiles as she flaunted her new engagement ring by designer Shahla Karimi. Pelphrey is also the father of Cuoco’s only child, one-year-old Matilda Carmine Richie Pelphrey.

So, who is Kaley Cuoco’s fiancé Tom Pelphrey, who convinced her to throw caution to the wind and get married once more?

He’s an actor

Tom Pelphrey, 42, hails from New Jersey. He started acting in senior school “thanks to a great teacher”, according to his IMDb bio, before achieving a BFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. While at university, he also studied Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre in London.

Pelphrey got his first acting break in the noughties in the long-running CBS soap opera Guiding Light, with his performance earning him two Daytime Emmys. The actor is best known for playing Ben Davis in the crime drama series Ozark, Kurt Bunker in the action crime thriller series Banshee, and Joe Mankiewicz in the 2020 biographical drama film Mank.

Tom Pelphrey supports young thespians

Pelphrey co-founded the Apothecary Theater Company in 2008 with friends from Rutgers, and served as the theatre’s art director, per People. He also starred in one of the company’s productions, An Evening of Don Nigro, per Playbill. According to People, Apothecary provides a platform for aspiring actors to produce and direct their own work, without the stress of auditioning. The company’s 2010 production In God’s Hat was a critical and commercial success.

How did Tom Pelphrey meet Kaley Cuoco?

Cuoco and Pelphrey shared the same manager, Andrea Pett-Joseph, who turned into a matchmaker when she took Cuoco to the season premiere of Ozark in April 2022. “It was love at first sight,” the actress told USA Today. The pair confirmed their relationship the following month.

When Pelphrey took Cuoco home to his family and his mum’s partner kept calling her Penny – after her Big Bang Theory character – Pelphrey reportedly had to take Cuoco aside to ask her why because he hadn’t seen the show. “I’ve watched a few episodes with her since,” he told W magazine, “and, obviously, she’s fantastic”.

He’s quite the astrology expert